The Apple iPad and Its Rivals

Apple iPad

Apple is touting its new iPad as "a magical and revolutionary product" and while the early reviews haven't gone quite that far, most of them have been favorable. Our developers, who got a sneak peak call it "smaller than your would expect" and "cute." On the plus side, many content companies are feverishly preparing iPad apps, which adds to the value proposition.

Cost: Starts at $499 and runs as high as $829 for 64 GBs, Wi-Fi, and 3G network capatability.

Notion Ink Adam

With the press of a button, the 1.7-pound Adam switches from low-power e-paper to full color. Unlike the iPad, the Adam, due in June, has a camera, an HDMI port, and a memory card slot.

Cost: Unavailable at presstime; Notion Ink says it will be competitive with the iPad—so around $499.

Lenovo Ideapad S10-3T

This 3-pound tablet has a physical keyboard and a 10-inch display that swivels to switch from laptop to tablet. Other features include Quick Start, for going online without booting into Windows 7, and DirectShare, for syncing files. A charge lasts seven hours, compared with 10 on the iPad.

Cost: $499

JooJoo

The JooJoo's 12.1-inch screen is great for streaming high-definition video. The 2.4-pound tablet, which has shortcuts to Twitter, Hulu, and Facebook, is all about the Web; it promises to get users online in nine seconds. Unlike the iPad, it has a webcam -- but it has only five hours of battery life.

Cost: $499

Entourage Edge

A so-called dualbook, the eDGe has two screens: a 9.7-inch eInk display for reading books and a 10.1-inch LCD for surfing the Web. The 3-pound device has a camera and runs on Google Android, giving users access to apps. It lasts 16 hours in eReader mode and six hours in color.